Some stories are difficult to write. This is especially true for Benjamin L. Krebs (1843-1880?) and Lucy Ann Allen (1845). The records suggest there is more to their story, but they can’t tell us the details. Lucy was listed with her maiden name in the U.S. Census until 1880, when she was finally listed as Lucy Krebs. Where was Benjamin from the time they married until 1880?

In the previous article, I had developed an initial research plan:

1. Find the image of the marriage record to verify the marriage dates of Benjamin L. Krebs and Lucy Ann Allen.
2. Retrieve a copy of Benjamin’s Civil War packet from Fold3 to see if a death date or other information could reveal more.
3. Evaluate sources for Mary Allen/Krebs and merge the duplicates.

As usual, I went off track and looked at additional record collections. It did pay off in this case because I learned more about Benjamin L. Krebs.

Marriage record for Benjamin and Lucy

Benjamin L. Krebs and Lucy Ann Allen married on 5 September 1865 in Louisville, Winston, Mississippi, at least according to their FamilySearch profiles. A marriage record was attached to Benjamin’s profile, but not Lucy’s profile. The marriage record is linked to an actual image, which I had to find. The image of the original record can help verify the dates, names, and locations because indexes are known to contain errors.

The marriage record confirmed the marriage date on 5 September 1865.¹ Benjamin survived the American Civil War, returned home, and married Lucy.²

But Lucy states she had been married within the last year in the 1860 U.S. Census.³ However, she was recorded in her father’s household with her maiden name.

Could the mark in the column on marriage be an errant mark? Could she have had a previous marriage at age 15-16 years of age? A search of Mississippi marriage collections did not return any other marriage record for Lucy Ann Allen, so the answer to these questions may remain a mystery.

Benjamin’s Civil War Service

Benjamin L. Kreb’s (1843-1880?) Civil War packet contained 17 separate documents. He served in the 5th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Company D. This unit suffered heavy casualties at the Battle of Shiloh and Corinth. The company also participated in the Battle of Stones River and Chickamauga, among a few others with heavy casualties. In other words, it is a miracle he survived the war and survived with only a minor injury to an arm.

Benjamin’s Disappearance

Benjamin survived the Civil War, traveled home, and married Lucy Ann Allen on 5 September 1865. He had a child named Mary in 1867.⁴ He disappeared after that. At least in the U.S. Census, in Mississippi, he was not with his wife and child in 1870 or 1880. Lucy was using her maiden name. Where did Benjamin go?

A search of land and probate records using the FamilySearch Full Text search found a mention of Benjamin. Benjamin’s father Etienne Stephen Krebs died in 1869 without a will, meaning his estate would go through probate. One document of the probate lists the children with an interesting side note. After naming several children, it stated the children were in Indian Territory. Indian Territory would have been Eastern Oklahoma.⁵

Benjamin’s mother, Margaret “Polly” Fillecutcha, was Choctaw. Her children may have moved to Indian Territory for land or to receive their allotment. This means that sometime between 1867-1873, Benjamin had traveled to Indian Territory and was no longer with Lucy. Could it have been a temporary separation, or was this permanent? And why did Lucy not go by her married name, at least in records, until 1880?

DNA

Could DNA help solve some of the questions of what happened with Benjamin and Lucy? Perhaps. If the descendants of Mary Allen, their daughter, could compare their DNA with the descendants of Stephen Krebs, it could help confirm the relationship of Mary to her parents. If Benjamin relocated and started another family, it could help tie them to the Krebs family as well. It may also help confirm the Choctaw ancestry (there are tribal applications of Benjamin’s nieces and nephews!).

The story of Benjamin and Lucy has many more questions than answers.

Sources

1. “Mississippi Marriages, 1800-1911,” entry for B. L. Krebs – L. A. Allen, 5 September 1865, Winston County, Mississippi, vol. 4, page 115; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 14 November 2024), image 339 of 511. ↩︎
2. Robert E. Lee surrendered April 1865. ↩︎
3. 1860 U.S. Census, Winston, Mississippi, population schedule, Louisville Post Office, p. 114 (penned), dwelling 749, family 749, Isah Allen household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 14 November 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication M653. ↩︎
4. 1870 U.S. Census, Winston County, Mississippi, population schedule, Township 14, R. 11, p. 3 (penned), p. 436 (stamped), dwelling 20, family 20, Isiah Allen household; digital image, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 24 November 2024); citing NARA microfilm publication M593. ↩︎
5. “Probate Records, 1860-1876,” entry for Stephen Krebs, 10 May 1873, Winston County, Mississippi; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 14 November 2024), image 698 of 1,842.  ↩︎